Industrial truck attachment



Jan. 15, 1952 s. WEISS INDUSTRIAL TRUCK ATTACHMENT Filed Feb. 19. 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. SAMUEL WEISS ATTOR N EY Jan. 15, 1952 svwslss 2,582,663

INDUSTRIAL TRUCK ATTACHMENT Filed Feb. 19. 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. SAMUEL WEISS ATTOR N EY Jan. 15, 1952 s. WEISS INDUSTRIAL TRUCK ATTACHMENT Filed Feb. 19'

I5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. WEISS SAMUEL.

ATTDRN EY Patented Jan. 15, 1952 UNITED STATE Samuel Weiss, Portland, Oreg. Application February 19, 1949', Serial No. 77,418

lClaim. (o1. 214-66) This invention relates in. general to industrial trucks of the end lift or elevating platform-type, and relates-particularly to an industrial truck of the type described in my U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,169,440, issued underda'te of August '15, 1939, and my U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,266,348, issued under date of December 16, 1941, both patents beingentitled industrial Truck.

In industrial trucks of these types an end lift or front hoisting mechanism is mounted at the frentoi the truck. and carries an elevator frame. Apa-ir oi lifting arms or prongs are customarily attached to the end lift frame and the load to be lifted or moved by the truck is supported onsuch arms or prongs. These arms or prongs must be. inserted under the load, and;

when the load comprises a barrel or crate, the arms of the lifting or hoisting mechanism are generally pushedunder the load While the'load isbe'ing" tipped slightly away from the front of the truck. Thus in the moving of barrels with such'a truck twomen are customarih employed, one of whom tips the barrel slightly and maintainsi-t in'the tipped position while'the other operates the truck and causes the arms of the end li ftof'the' truck to be pushed under the bottom of-the' tilted barrel.

"The primary object of the present invention isto provide suitable means to be used with an industrial 'or end lift truck which Will' enable the loading of the truck to be performed by the operatorof the truck alone.

A' related object of this invention is to provide-a simple and practical attachment for an industrial or end lift truck by means of which theoperator of the truck can handle such an articie' as a'metal drum or barrel. for example, quicklyand easily and without the necessity of any manual contact with such article.

The nature of the invention and the manner in which the same is employed will bereadily understood from the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. l'is' a front elevation of an. end lift truck showing my attachment in place on the same;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the end lift truck of'l ig.- 1, drawn to a smaller scale, illustrating the attachment in use;

Fig. 3 is a corresponding plan view of the end lift truck and attachment, the. attachment shown as. employed for lifting a pair of metal barrels or drums;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view, drawn to aiarger scale, of my attachment;

Fig. 4A is a side-elevation'of one of the movable load-lifting arms of myattachment;

Fig. 4B is a. side elevation of another loadl'lfti-ng-garm my attachment; I

Fig. 5 is aside elevation of a modification of my attachment, which modification. maybe used when only a. single drum at: a time-is. to he lifted;

, Fig. 6 is a corresponding. plan view of theimodb fled attachment illustrated in Fig. 5 shown: in:

use with a single. drumyand Fig. 7 is a front elevationv of the same modified attachment shown separated from the 'tmckaand with the drum omitted fromthis: elevationiorthe sake of clarity.

In the drawings the reference character N; indicates an industrial truckhaving the usual end lift or hoisting means which is indicatediin general by the reference character It- The" hoisting means is preferably tiltably mounted at the front end of the truck and; includes elevator frame H which is slidable' up and-"down in guide tracks and is attached to lifting :chadns driven through the medium of mechanism con-- nected with the truck motor anclcontrol'ledr by the operator of the truck.

It is customary in such industrial'trucks'to have a. pair of load-marrying arms hooked onto. or otherwise carried by, theelievator faceplate I2, and. to insert suchload-carrying arms'under neath the load to be hoisted and carried by the truck, as previously mentioned. In attachment, however", these ordinary load-carrying arms are dispensed withrand in placeoi the same I provide improved load-lifiting'arms which are so arranged and mounted as to engage'and support the particular load without having to.

be inserted under the load.

A transversely-extending arm -.-snpporting member 13 (show-n most clearly in-Figs. 1i and. 4), having a pair of mounting blocks M and I5 secured to the rear face thereof, is attached to the top portion of the elevator face plate-l2 by bolts or other suitable means. tion. of the rear face of this arme-supportingimemher i 3 is formed withan. integral semi-cylindrical In the form of my invention shown. Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, three; horizontal forward- I rib Iv 9'.

1y extending arms. l6, I l and i8 are hooked the member l3-"and are slidably, adinstahly-carried thereon.

These loadelifting arms I16, l1 and it are ar ranged in the relative: positions shown inJFigsml and-4.. The two outer arms IT and [Bare slim-.-

lar and each has an integral top web 22., although these webs extend oppositely, and each arm has an integral back plate 24, (see also Fig. 4A) The back plates 24 are each formed with a top rearwardly extending lip 20 which has a hook-shaped end. The inner face of this hook-shaped portion corresponds to the surface of the rib I9 on the member I3. Thus the two arms I1 and I8 can be hooked over the member I3 and will then be held in parallel, forward-extending position on the member" I3 and will also be'slidable laterally on the member I3 and rib I9. An integral lug 23 extends upwardly from the top of each lip 20. Thsee lugs are formed with bores through which a rotatable adjusting shaft 25 extends, and the bores of these lugs are threaded to correspond with the oppositely threaded sectionsof the ro-' tatable adjusting shaft 25. The center arm I6 is also formed with a curved rearwardly extend- 1 ing lip ZI (see Fig. 4B), which similarly extends over the. top of the member I3 and around the rib I9, and a lug 26 projecting upwardly from therear'end of this arm I6 hasa round aperture through which the rotatable shaft extends. A pair: of collars 21 and 28 are secured to the-shaft 25 on opposite sides of this lug 26, thus permitting the shaft 25 to rotate-in the lug 26 but preventing any axial slidingofathe shaft 25 with respect to the center arm I6; A crank handle 29 for rotating the shaft 25 is secured to one end of the shaft.

Thus the arms I6, I! and I8, together with their connecting shaft 25 are removably mounted on the member. I3, and, when so mounted, the

spacing between each'of the arms I1 and I8 and" the center arm I6 can be adjusted by rotating the shaft.25..

The manner in which my attachment when made in the form thus far described, operates, when the truck is employed, for example, in the moving of steel barrels or drums, will be apparent from Figs. 2 and 3. A pair of such steel barrels or drums are indicated at 30 and 3|. Metal drums of this typeare customarily made with a cylindrical wall which is deformed with-one or" A'pair of moreannular outwardly pressed ribs. such ribs are shown at 32 on the drum 30 in Fig; 2.. With my attachment made as previously described it is possible to liftand move a pair of identical drums at' thesame time when these drums are placed sideby side on thegroundor on the tops'of other drums-or crates. Preparatory to engaging a pair of such drums the arms I! and I8 are adjusted by means of the crank handle 29 until the'space between each arm I! ward into engagement with the drums so that the arm I6 will be pushed between the two drums while the arms I 6 and I 1 will be pushed over the outer side of the drums respectively, until the transverse member I3 comes into contact with The elevator frameis then raised causing the arms to slide up on the cylindrical the drums.

wall surfaces of the drums until the arms encounter the ribs on the drums, whereupon con-- tinued raising of the elevator frame will cause the 4 drums to be lifted by the arms and thus supported entirely by the end lift of the truck.

To aid in holding the drums steady while they are supported in this way by the arms I6, I I and I8, I provide a bottom rest consisting 'of a lateral bar 33 having inwardly off-set ends 34 which are bolted or otherwise secured to the elevator frame I2 at a spaced distance below the transverse member I3 so as to cause the bar 33 to be mounted in horizontal position for engagement with the bottom portion of the walls of the drums when the drums are lifted by the arms, and thus aid in holding the drums steady while supported on the arms;

When only a single drum is to be removed from a position within a row of drums the arms'll can be removed from my attachment and the attachment then used with a pair of arms only. However, when the moving and transporting of such drums is ordnarily to take place one at a time, I prefer to employ my attachment in the modified form illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and 7.

Referring to Figs. 5, 6 and '7, a transverselyextending angle iron 35 is bolted to the elevator frame I2. near the top, in place of the member I3 previously described. This angle iron member 35 is formed with a pair'of integral brackets 36 near its ends, which brackets in turn support a transversely-extending arm-carrying shaft 31. A center bracket 38, integral with, or rigidly secured to, the angle iron 35, also aids in-supporting the center portion of the shaft'3I and carries a. set screw 47 tohold the shaft 37 against any inadvertent axial movement in its supporting brackets.

A pair of load-lifting arm assemblies are mountedon the shaft 31. Each arm assembly comprises a mounting bracket having a face plate 39 (Fig. 5), a top web 45, an integral sleeve 4| (Fig. 6) slidable on the shaft 31, and an upwardly extending arm terminating in a sleeve 42. The load-engaging arm portion of each assembly comprises a forwardly-extending arm 43 which is Welded to a base plate 44, and which base plate 44 in turn is securely bolted to the face plate 39 of its mounting bracket.

A threaded positionng shaft 45 extends through and is supported by the pair of upper sleeves 42. Cooperating threaded. position-adjusting collars 46, mounted on the shaft 45, as shown in Figs. 6 and'7, enable the pair of extending arms 43 to be set at any desired distance apart. Thus the extending arms 43 can be so set that the distance between their opposed faces will be approximately equal to the exterior diameter of the cylindrical wall of a drum of standard size such as the drum 48 in Figs. 5 and 6. With the extending arms 43 thus adjusted and set the desired distance apart,

the lifting, transporting, and placing of such a drum can be done quickly and easily, in the same manner as previously described, by the operator of an end lift industrial truck without requiring the operator to leave his position on the truck.

While this specification thus far has described my invention as employed in the handling of metal drums, and this use constitutes a veryimportant one for my industrial truck attachment inasmuch as the handlingof heavy metal drums in warehouses, docks, etc., even with modern industrial trucks, has always involved a considerable expenditure of time and labor, nevertheless it will be obvious that my attachment may also be used similarly on other objects, inparticular, crates and boxes having cleats or side ribs on the vertical side walls and thus suitable for engagement by the adjustable arms of my industrial truck attachment. Obviously also, modifications could be made in the actual construction of the members of my attachment without departing from the principle of my invention, but the forms in which I have shown my attachment have proven very satisfactory in actual operation.

I claim:

In an industrial truck having an end lift, an elevator face plate on said end lift. a transverselyextending arm-supporting member removably secured to said face plate at a slightly spaced distance in front of said plate, said member havin a rib extending longitudinally along the upper portion of its rear face, a plurality of arms adapted to be movably and removably supported on said member and when 50 supported to extend forwardly from said member and from said lift face plate, a back plate on each of said arms adapted to bear against the front face of said member, a hook-shaped lip on the back plate of each arm so shaped as to extend over the top of said member and over said rib so as to support the arm on said member, a bracket lug extending upwardly from each back plate, a screw-threaded arm-amusting shaft extending through and entirely supported by said bracket lugs of said arms, threaded bores in said bracket lugs for said shaft, and means carried on an end of said shaft for manuallyrotating the shaft in said bores to adjust the relative spacing between said arms, whereby said arms, with said adjusting shaft connecting them, can be readily mounted on or demounted from said member.

SAMUEL WEISS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,491,384 Eidmann Apr. 22, 1924 1,518,561 Carroll Dec. 9, 1924 1,900,569 Lederer Mar. 7, 1933 1,929,447 Remde Oct. 10, 1933 2,420,828 King May 20, 1947 2,448,124 Roy Aug. 31, 1948 2,473,410 Bevevino June 14, 1949 2,475,367 Avery July 5, 1949 2,483,745 Vossenberg Oct. 4, 1949 2,517,085 Cirillo Aug. 1, 1950 

